Army says troops came under attack with multiple explosive devices during overnight West Bank raid, returned fire; no soldiers hurt

Illustrative photo. Security forces during clashes with protesters at the entrance to the village of Qabatiya in Jenin, February 6, 2016. (Haytham Shtayeh/FLASH90)

Israeli soldiers operating in the West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen, after coming under fire and being attacked with multiple explosive charges, the army said. Palestinian sources said two people were killed and one was wounded.

“Overnight, during an IDF operation in the Jenin refugee camp, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the forces and assailants hurled explosive devices at the forces,” the army said in a statement. “In response to the immediate threat, forces shot towards the attackers.”

Military officials said they had received reports of a Palestinian killed in the firefight. “Reports of casualties are under investigation.”

According to the Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news outlet, one of the two Palestinians killed was shot in the head and died immediately, while the second was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors later pronounced him dead.

The third Palestinian was shot in the leg, according to Wafa.

The army said details of the incident were under investigation.

The IDF carried out early morning raids across the West Bank on Wednesday, arresting 21 Palestinian suspects, mostly for rock throwing and taking part in violent protests, the army said.

Three of the 21 suspects were picked up on the suspicion that they were members of the Hamas terrorist organization, the army said.

On Tuesday IDF soldiers raided the West Bank hometown of a Palestinian man who the day before carried out a car-ramming attack in which a soldier was wounded, the army said.

Early Tuesday morning, IDF troops, as well as Border Police officers and members of the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, entered the village of Teqoa.

“The troops carried out searches in the home of the terrorist and in the homes of his family, and seized inciting material,” the army said in a statement.

Between Monday night and Tuesday, the IDF arrested 15 Palestinians in cities and towns across the West Bank who were suspected of rock throwing, taking part in riots and other forms of so-called “popular terrorism,” the military said.

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